Restart after two years

[madman]

I’ve read that creatine can help but unsure if there is truth to this.

Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation

Abstract Supplementing with creatine is very popular amongst athletes and exercising individuals for improving muscle mass, performance, and recovery. Accumulating evidence also suggests that creatine supplementation produces a variety of beneficial effects in older and patient populations...

www.excelmale.com

Does creatine cause hair loss/baldness?

*In summary, the current body of evidence does not indicate that creatine supplementation increases total testosterone, free testosterone, DHT or causes hair loss/baldness.

 

[TLawyer]

Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation

Abstract Supplementing with creatine is very popular amongst athletes and exercising individuals for improving muscle mass, performance, and recovery. Accumulating evidence also suggests that creatine supplementation produces a variety of beneficial effects in older and patient populations...

www.excelmale.com

Does creatine cause hair loss/baldness?

*In summary, the current body of evidence does not indicate that creatine supplementation increases total testosterone, free testosterone, DHT or causes hair loss/baldness.

Only one study I've ever seen on it:

Three weeks of creatine monohydrate supplementation affects dihydrotestosterone to testosterone ratio in college-aged rugby players - PubMed

Creatine supplementation may, in part, act through an increased rate of conversion of T to DHT. Further investigation is warranted as a result of the high frequency of individuals using creatine supplementation and the long-term safety of alterations in circulating androgen composition...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[madman]

Only one study I've ever seen on it:

Three weeks of creatine monohydrate supplementation affects dihydrotestosterone to testosterone ratio in college-aged rugby players - PubMed

Creatine supplementation may, in part, act through an increased rate of conversion of T to DHT. Further investigation is warranted as a result of the high frequency of individuals using creatine supplementation and the long-term safety of alterations in circulating androgen composition...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

From the paper:


Does creatine cause hair loss/baldness?

The vast majority of speculation regarding the relationship between creatine supplementation and hair loss/ baldness stems from a single study by van der Merwe et al. [61] where college-aged male rugby players who supplemented with creatine (25 g/day for 7 days, followed by 5 g/day thereafter for an additional 14 days) experienced an increase in serum dihydrotestosterone (DHT) concentrations over time. Specifically, DHT increased by 56% after the seven-day loading period, and remained 40% above baseline values after the 14-day maintenance period. These results were statistically significant compared to when the subjects consumed a placebo (50 g of glucose per day for 7 days, followed by 30 g/day for 14 days thereafter). Given that changes in these hormones, particularly DHT, have been linked to some (but not all) occurrences of hair loss/baldness [62], the theory that creatine supplementation leads to hair loss/baldness gained some momentum and this potential link continues to be a common question/myth today. It is important to note that the results of van der Merwe et al. [61] have not been replicated, and that intense resistance exercise itself can cause increases in these androgenic hormones.

DHT is a metabolite of testosterone, formed when the enzyme 5-alpha-reductase converts free testosterone to DHT [63]. In males, DHT can bind to androgen receptors in susceptible hair follicles and cause them to shrink, ultimately leading to hair loss [64]. However, in the van der Merwe et al. [61] study, no increase in total testosterone was found in the 16 males who completed the study. Free testosterone was not measured. Moreover, the increase in DHT and the DHT: testosterone ratio remained well within normal clinical limits. Furthermore, at baseline (prior to supplementation), DHT was 23% lower in the creatine group (0.98 nmol/L) compared to the placebo group (1.26 nmol/L). Thus the small increase in DHT in the creatine group (+ 0.55 nmol/L after 7 days of supplementation and + 0.40 nmol/L after 21 days of supplementation), in combination with a small decrease in the placebo DHT response (-0.17 nmol/L after 7 days of supplementation and -0.20 nmol/L after 21 days of supplementation) explains the “statistically significant” increase in DHT noted by van der Merwe et al. [61]. While it is possible that creatine supplementation upregulated 5- alpha-reductase activity in these males (potentially leading to increased formation of DHT), no study has reported hair loss/baldness in humans.

To date, 12 other studies have investigated the effects of creatine supplementation (i.e. doses ranging from 3-25 g/ day for 6 days to 12 weeks) on testosterone. Two studies reported small, physiologically insignificant increases in total testosterone after six and seven days of supplementation [65, 66], while the remaining ten studies reported no change in testosterone concentrations. In five of these studies [67– 71], free testosterone, which the body uses to produce DHT, was also measured and no increases were found.